In the present technology there are multifunctional telecommunications products with or without telephone operations integrated with various capabilities such as fax/data modem operations, copying, data storage and transmission, hardcopy scanning into electronic form, computer printing, and facsimile transmissions. However, these multifunctional devices do not provide operational capabilities through an integrated touch sensitive screen overlay on an electrophoretic display panel facilitating user interaction and employed as an interface display.
Electrophoretic displays (EPIDS) are now well known. A variety of display types and features are taught in several patents assigned to the assignees herein, CopyTele, Inc. of Huntington Station, N.Y. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,655,897 and 4,732,830, each entitled ELECTROPHORETIC DISPLAY PANELS AND ASSOCIATED METHODS describe the basic operation and construction of an electrophoretic display. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,870,677 and 5,450,069, entitled DATA/FACSIMILE TELEPHONE SUBSET APPARATUS INCORPORATING ELECTROPHORETIC DISPLAYS, describe a telephone with an electrophoretic display to generate various keyboard formats operated in conjunction with a position sensitive overlay to permit keyboard type inputs through the electrophoretic display of a keyboard. U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,107, entitled ELECTROPHORETIC DISPLAY PANEL WITH SELECTIVE CHARACTER ADDRESSABILITY, describes an electrophoretic display in which individual characters on a line of display can be selectively erased and rewritten without materially disturbing the appearance of other image characters of that line which remain the same from one frame to the next. Many other patents regarding such displays are also assigned to Copytele, Inc.
As described in the foregoing patents, essentially, an electrophoretic display apparatus includes a planar transparent member having disposed on a surface a plurality of vertical conductive lines to form a grid of lines in the Y direction. On top of the grid of vertical lines there is disposed a plurality of horizontal lines which are positioned above the vertical lines and insulated therefrom by a thin insulating layer at each of the intersection points. Spaced above the horizontal and vertical line pattern is a conductive plate. The space between the conductive plate and the X and Y line patterns is filled with an electrophoretic dispersion containing chargeable pigment particles. When a voltage is impressed between the X and Y lines, pigment particles, which are located in wells or depressions between the X and Y pattern, are caused to migrate towards the conductive plate and are deposited upon the conductive plate in accordance with the bias applied to the X and Y line conductors. There is described various electrophoretic dispersions which are suitable for operating with the display, as well as techniques for fabricating the display. In this manner such displays can be fabricated to contain large effective display surfaces while being relatively thin and which are capable of high resolution at very low power.
The foregoing patents also describe use of pressure or position sensitive overlays in conjunction with the electrophoretic displays for providing users the ability to provide system inputs by manipulating images on the electrophoretic displays. Although a pressure sensitive display is described, there are many other techniques which will allow a touch overlay or touch operation, such as LED arrays or capacitive sensing devices. These devices will detect the position or pressure imparted by a user at various areas of the display, and hence, such an overlay is not directed solely to pressure. In regard to pressure overlays, they are furnished by many companies and are conventional components. See, for example, a product distributed by Tektronics Inc. of Beaverton, Oreg., which is capable of detecting touch or pressure with high resolution. Moreover, the pressure overlays can be fabricated for sensitivity to high pressure point type contacts, such as from a pen, and insensitive to low pressure from large area contact, such as from a hand. Thus, there are various overlays which can be integrated with an electrophoretic display for enabling a user to implement line or character displays, a code or other sequence by contacting an area of the display.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a unique user interactive, multifunctional telecommunications apparatus. More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a multifunctional telecommunications apparatus with an integrated interface display manipulated by a touch sensitive screen overlay, on a major surface thereof, to facilitate user interactive control of the multifunctional capabilities.